Philip Van Cortlandt

Philip Van Cortlandt (21 August 1749-21 November 1831) was a member of the US House of Representatives in New York from 1793 to 1809 and a Brigadier-General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

Biography
Philip Van Cortlandt was born on 21 August 1749 in New York City, New York, and he was the great-grandson of Mayor of New York City Stephanus Van Cortlandt. Van Cortlandt worked as a civil engineer before founding the New York Provincial Congress in 1775 and becoming the commander of the 2nd New York Regiment of the Continental Army. Van Cortlandt fought at the Battles of Saratoga and the Sullivan Expedition in his home state, and he was commended for gallantry at the 1781 Siege of Yorktown. From 1783 to 1788, he served as Treasurer of the Society of Cincinnati (a war veterans' group), and in 1788 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. From 1788 to 1790 he served in the New York State Assembly, in the State Senate from 1791 to 1793, and a member of the US House of Representatives for eight terms. He died in 1831.